The silk hat was given to an Italian TV show host during the general audience in St Peter’s square in Rome in June, 2014.

The Pope was passing through crowds at his regular when the man reached out offering a new skullcap. Footage of the moment shows the Pope carefully inspecting the hat before swapping it with his own, and was documented by the Italian media. Europe’s fastest growing online auction house, Catawiki, is now auctioning it, with most of the proceeds going to the charity Save a Child’s Heart, including website’s full commission fees.